The Neighborhood Watch: Build It and They Will Come…

November 13th, 2017 CEO

By Katrina Broner

Most people keep track of their lives with great memories and it’s often said, “That was the best day ever!” At times we say, “That was the worst day ever.” We count all these days as the sum of our lives but often I wonder how many days have I spent in the service of others?

Recently, I did just that!

In Tampa, there are areas that are not as developed and safe as others but there is always an effort to improve those areas. No matter what it looks like there are good people that just want to live a good life as best they can. They want a safe neighborhood and a safe place for their children to play when they come home for school. For me, it’s called the University Area.

I will always have a heart for it because it’s where I got my very first apartment as a single mom. Because of their efforts, my oldest daughter always had a safe park to play at and even a recreation center with a great daycare. It just so happened that we literally lived right next door to the University Area Community Development Center (UACDC) and on her first birthday she had her first go in a swing at that park. It wasn’t the safest area but that was a safe place to let her be a kid.

Fast forward almost 12 years and 2 more children later, that recreation center is still standing, still safe and we are like family. My children participate in the Prodigy Program and whenever I can, I donate, support or volunteer. There’s vision for a new park in a different area coming to reality thanks to Bank of America, the Tampa Bay Rays and KaBoom. It’s called Harvest Hope Park and its purpose is not only to give children a wonderful safe place to play, it will also feed the community. Part of the plans include an organic garden and a tilapia pond for actual fishing where the neighbors can come for what they need. Alongside that playgrounds and functional art! It’s all very exciting! So recently the part we would make reality was to finish the garden, build the playground and paint a mural to reflect all the wonderful things Harvest Hope Park will be.

We got started at 8am and pushed through lunch. My team assignment was the mural, Team Butterfly. The cement brick wall looked like one big coloring page. Everything drawn out for us by our team lead Kathleen. While we painted we watched and cheered for the playground crew pushing through until lunch.

After an awesome catered BBQ lunch the coordinator of KaBoom let us know that we were ahead of schedule by about an hour. They had planned for us to work from 8am until 3pm. Everyone cheered and finished up for the ribbon cutting ceremony. They even had Tampa Bay Rays Outfielder, Mallex Smith show up. He was pretty cool and even helped finish up the mural, after which he signed my volunteer shirt and took pics with my children.

The park looks absolutely amazing and beautiful and gave me the warm fuzzy feeling. It will be ready to play in 3 days, the cement has to set. I love seeing a community come together to “Get ‘Er Done!” And that we certainly did.

Everyone was beaming, with kindness and pride, it’s a wonder we didn’t blind each other. No one cared who you really were, what you looked like or where you were from, it only mattered that you had some respect, a kind heart and willing to work for the greater good. It is a blessing to truly be in service to others. It’s the gift that keeps on giving.

Amazingly, it’s really that simple and that got a park built today that will benefit families in that community for years to come.

Even more amazing is this kind community service happened on a day when we say Thank You to our Veterans for serving this country. I have been told many times that they too keep it that simple and work together that well for our freedom.

It makes you wonder what exactly is the point of all the division, arguing and killing if such great things are possible based on such simple ideas! Respect, Kindness and Cooperation for the greater good. It’s also proof that someone is lying…there’s still a whole lot of good in this world, you just have to choose to be part of it. I encourage any and everyone to volunteer, any time you have an opportunity, especially with and for our children.